A telecommunications network is a medium for selectively transferring data from data sources to data sinks. The complexity of the network, its performance, and cost depend heavily on the network's architecture. In particular, the control complexity of a packet-switching network increases sharply, and the performance deteriorates, as the network diameter increases; the network diameter being a metric determined as a function of the number of intervening switching-routing apparatus between a data source and a data sink. An individual switching-routing apparatus is typically implemented as a multi-stage switching system and its complexity, performance, and cost are influenced by the number of switching processes within the apparatus. It is, therefore, desirable to explore an alternative network structure which permits scalability to wide coverage and high capacity while providing operational simplicity, high performance, and overall efficiency. It is also desirable that such a structure be applicable to the construction of an individual switching-routing apparatus.